Month: October 2017

Nine pro-democracy activists have been found guilty for ignoring a court injunction during the Occupy Movement three years ago.

Eleven other co-defendants, including then-student leaders Joshua Wong Chi-fung – who was celebrating his 21st birthday today – and Lester Shum, had earlier pleaded guilty to contempt of court for obstructing bailiffs during the court-ordered clearance of the Mong Kok protest site. (Pictured, Joshua Wong being driven to jail on August 17 after sentencing).

Protesters in at least 20 countries plan to demonstrate in solidarity with Hong Kong political prisoners and ousted lawmakers

chinaworker.info

Lorenzo Rodríguez is the General Secretary of the Independent Democratic Farm Labourers’ Union in Mexico (Sindicato Independiente Nacional Democrático de Jornaleros Agrícolas). He’s also one of several workers’ leaders from around the world who has put his name to a petition against political repression in Hong Kong.

Hong Kong’s state-owned rail giant MTR has expanded aggressively overseas in the past decade. The company has exploited the worldwide mania for privatisation of formerly publicly owned transport systems to establish itself as a global force. It now derives one-third of its revenue from operations in Europe, Australia and mainland China.

“In Sweden, MTR is now the third biggest employer in the capital Stockholm,” says Per-Åke Westerlund of the socialist party, Rättvisepartiet Socialisterna (CWI in Sweden). “Several groups of unionised workers have grievances against the company, which operates the Stockholm subway system, the capital’s regional railway, and has also taken over national rail routes. This summer, MTR’s subcontractor at the regional railway sacked 24 cleaning workers and cut working hours for another 41.”

In Melbourne, Australia, MTR owns 60 percent of Metro, which operates the city’s trains. In 2015, the company’s attacks on working hours and conditions triggered the transport network’s first strike since 1997.

Life at the correctional facility is dull and dry; to be disconnected from the family and friends I have fought alongside is also tremendously painful.

But despite these difficulties, I remain proud of my commitment to the umbrella movement, which was born exactly three years ago today.

After reading Nelson Mandela’s autobiography and the memoirs of the recently deceased Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo, I can’t help but think: what are these British-style marching exercises and the bad food here in Hong Kong compared to their sufferings?

The Hong Kong government must drop prosecutions aimed at having a chilling effect on freedom of expression in the city, Amnesty International said ahead of the third anniversary of the 2014 pro-democracy Umbrella Movement.

Three years on from the start of the unprecedented 79-day protest in late 2014, scores of protesters, who were arrested for their involvement in the largely peaceful protests, remain in legal limbo, uncertain if they will face charges.

“Three years since the Umbrella Movement protests, a cloud of uncertainty hangs over Hong Kong. The government’s stance is having a chilling effect on peaceful assembly and freedom of expression,” said Mabel Au, Director of Amnesty International Hong Kong.